Marc Tejtel

Deputy Chief Counsel

Marc Tejtel is the Deputy Chief Counsel of the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the General Counsel. In addition, Marc Tejtel is the coordinator for activities in the Middle East and North Africa.

As Deputy Chief Counsel, Marc Tejtel has three main kinds of responsibilities, besides serving as Acting Chief Counsel when the Chief Counsel is away:
• Laying a foundation for CLDP assistance in countries where CLDP had no prior activities (e.g., Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Armenia, Georgia, Kosovo,….)
• Providing program input in domains where he has had practical experience (Energy Law, Technology Law, State-owned Enterprises reform, SME financing)
• Ensuring synergistic coordination between CLDP’s different country teams.

Marc Tejtel joined CLDP in March 2002 as an Attorney-Advisor International in charge of CLDP's activities in the Balkans. Since 2006, much of his work at CLDP has had to do with creating legal, fiscal, and judicial environments conducive to investment and to economic development in countries in transition.

Prior to joining CLDP, Marc Tejtel was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. His last assignment with the State Department was in Algeria where he served as the Commercial, Economic and Energy Officer at the American Embassy in Algiers. A Consular Cone Foreign Service Officer, Marc Tejtel had a consular commission in Algeria and, in addition to his other duties, also served as Acting Consul when the Consul was away.

While with the State Department, Marc Tejtel received several awards among which an award for "sustained superior performance as an Economic and Commercial Officer" in Algeria, an award for “outstanding work as pre-visit negotiator, as site coordinator….and as facilitator for the bilateral talks held by the U.S. Secretary of State with three Heads of State…”, and an award for his role as Post Security Officer while Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Calgary, Canada. In this capacity, Marc Tejtel also received a special plaque from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the first U.S. Vice Consul in Calgary to be so distinguished.

As Economic Officer in Algeria, Marc Tejtel worked closely with Algeria’s patent and copyright offices, and with an Algerian technology incubator. As Energy Officer in Algeria, Mr. Tejtel worked, in an advocacy role, on tax and contractual issues of importance to US upstream energy firms operating in the country. As Commercial Officer in Algeria, Mr. Tejtel worked, in an advocacy role, on downstream energy projects of importance to US firms.

Prior to joining the State Department, Marc Tejtel was, for close to 10 years, the CEO of a U.S. subsidiary of the world's largest electric utility, a State-owned enterprise. This subsidiary specialized in forming technology partnerships between North American and European firms. It also provided assistance in local economic development.

For a few years before, Marc Tejtel had been Vice-President SME of DITT Inc. (Development, Innovation, Technology Transfer), a subsidiary of the same utility. One of DITT’s mandates was to transfer to SMEs technology developed by this utility. DITT Inc. was also a hydroelectric Independent Power Producer (IPP).

From 1972 to 1985, while serving in Europe, Marc Tejtel held executive positions with government agencies specializing in the financing of technological innovation and of small business. In particular, from 1978 to 1985, Marc Tejtel was the second in command of INODEV (Innovation et Développement), a joint-venture between France’s State-owned small business development bank (BDPME/OSEO) and France’s National Agency for the Commercialization of Technology (ANVAR). INODEV specialized in funding technology development and commercialization projects of SMEs through long-term financing and quasi-equity. Marc Tejtel had been part of the two-person team that founded INODEV in 1978. At INODEV, Marc Tejtel was, in particular, in charge of the team conducting the risk assessment of all technology development and commercialization projects.

From 1972 to 1978 (with a 15-month break for military service as a Navy officer), Marc Tejtel worked as an economist at a State-owned bank (CNME/CEPME) specialized in the financing of investment needs of SMEs, as well as in the financing of SMEs awarded government contracts. In this capacity, Marc Tejtel was, in particular, the de-facto editor of, and the main contributor to, CNME’s quarterly journal, at the time one of Europe’s most respected banking journals. Marc Tejtel’s papers published in this journal were mainly focused on the financing of technology entrepreneurship, on banking risk analysis, and on government procurement. During this period, Marc Tejtel often represented CNME in Brussels at meetings of the European Association of State-Owned Enterprises.

The co-author of three collective books about banking and finance, and an often published economist (his first article published in March 1970 dealt with the Lieberman reform in the Soviet Union’s state-owned enterprises), Mr. Tejtel has always taught, in parallel to his professional activities. His teaching has mostly been focused on the management of intellectual capital, on SME financing, and on international negotiations.

Since his first methodology (“How To Assess The Risk of A New Technology Commercialization Project”) was published in 1985 in a leading European economic daily, Marc Tejtel has created about ten decision-making methodologies, all based upon lessons learned from his professional experience. As an educator, Marc Tejtel has also created more than twenty case studies.

An attorney-at-law, a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and of the American Law Institute, Marc Tejtel holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University, as well as graduate degrees from Europe. (Sorbonne, HEC).